Obama Praises Colombia’s Peace Efforts

OBAMA PRAISES COLOMBIA’S PEACE EFFORTS

US President Barack Obama recently welcomed President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia to the White House for a buoyant celebration of the $10 billion, US effort “to help Colombia vanquish its violent drug cartels and end its festering guerrilla war, the longest worldwide”.

It was also a chance for two leaders who reached out to longtime enemies to savor their success –Mr. Obama for his opening to Cuba, and Mr. Santos for his peace talks with his country’s guerrilla movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC.

The meeting was covered and very favorably reviewed by The New York Times on February 5, in an article titled “Obama Praises Colombia’s Peace Efforts With Rebels and Seeks Big Aid”, signed by journalist Mark Landler.

The Colombian government is expected to sign a final peace agreement with the rebels by March 23, bringing an end to the longest civil war in Latin America. An estimated 225,000 people have been killed and six million displaced in the conflict, says the New York newspaper, one of the most recognized sources of US corporate.

Speaking at the headquarters of the US government, Mr. Obama said that “a country that was on the brink of collapse is now a country on the brink of peace.” He announced that he would request $450 million in new aid for Plan Colombia, the program under which the United States has supplied Colombia with military equipment, training and economic assistance. That is an increase over the $300 million the White House had previously budgeted.

Plan Colombia, Mr. Obama said, will be renamed Peace Colombia to reflect its new purpose of helping the country keep the peace, rather than wage war. “In Colombia today,” he said, “there is hope.”

President Santos described how Colombia had rebounded from the chaos of the 1990s, when large parts of the country were under the control of the guerrillas or paramilitary groups. Today, he said, it has a thriving economy and an effective policy for cracking down on the drug trade.

He recalled that Mr. Obama was one of the first leaders in whom he confided his plans to negotiate with the guerrillas. “You not only believed it was possible,” Mr. Santos said, “you encouraged me to go ahead and gave me your full, enthusiastic support.”

Speaking for all people who live “south of the Rio Grande,” Mr. Santos thanked Mr. Obama for his “audacity in re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba.”

Mr. Santos was vocal in prodding the United States to end its half-century estrangement from Cuba, citing his own efforts to make peace as an example. Characterized by the NYT as “a fluent English speaker with a graduate degree from Harvard”, Mr. Santos made a persuasive case for the fact that the United States needed to make such a move towards Cuba.

The NYT columnist recalls that Plan Colombia has not been without detractors. Particularly in its early years, some critics said it was weighted too heavily toward military aid over civilian aid. The Colombian government was also criticized for disregarding human rights as it stepped up the war against the guerrillas.

There are also lingering questions about the role played by the United States in backing Colombian officials who colluded with extreme right-wing militias (paramilitaries) to fight the patriotic guerrillas.

According to the NYT, Obama’s meeting with Santos begins what is expected to be a busy year of Latin American diplomacy for the US President. The White House hopes that as early as March, he will make a landmark visit to Cuba. That trip could include a stop in Colombia. In November, he is scheduled to travel to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Meta

Fair use notice of copyrighted material:

This site contains some copyrighted material that in some cases has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance the understanding of politics, human rights, the economy, democracy, and social justice issues related to Cuba. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.